Part One: Once Upon A..
Let’s start with the foundation of British political life. Initially founded by men for men, that is, wealthy men of what is often referred to as ‘the establishment’ made up of property landed gentry or lords and wealthy hierarchy and royalty. Parliament was initially run by the ruling monarch (used to be men only), even when in battle, his privy council would travel with him to pass laws and help enforce law as he went around the United Kingdom, and places all over Europe.
When Queen Victoria came to reign she created a political landscape to encourage growth and autonomy for the British public, though still monopolised by the wealthy male population. Then after many demonstrations, imprisonments and activism a small population of women won the right to vote, along with that the male age to vote was lowered.
We are still in England struggling with the ‘working class’ ‘middle class and ‘upper class’ statuses and identities of our politicians, hoping to represent their public voters. It has been joked about …. “how many senior politicians know how much a bottle of milk costs?” A question many ‘upper class’ male and female MP’s are unable to answer.
So what is going on with all this Brexit stuff? Brexit is an abbreviation of ‘British Exit from the European Union’ the campaign for this to be voted upon was not voted by a public with all the accurate and true information and facts for the public to make a well informed decision.
Basically many MP’s (Members of Parliament voted in by public to represent their city/town/county) did not even have the full facts to hand themselves!! Many did not care, and even believe that anyone would vote to leave; many care that we stay in the EU as they know that our economy is not enough to flourish alone, and there are those who see the United Kingdom as a future tax haven to avoid tax and hide capital. And that is the whole of the United Kingdom includes England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, all have voted in the referendum as an advisory vote, the public voted in favour to leave the European Union by a very narrow majority. Some young people voted to leave thinking it was a joke!! They thought “no way would we leave” and many older generation who voted to leave are now deceased, those still living are often harbouring a nostalgia of times gone by where technology was simple, times were simpler and the European Union seems to them to be some kind of monster organisation taking money and causing too many ‘immigrants’ to enter the U.K. most of those people only had the papers and radio and television to inform themselves about what the EU means to every day life.
The EU was created post-war for peace insurance to be democratic and regenerative, a well meaning to never have the hostilities again post war 1945 a unifying intention. David Davis was the first ‘Brexit Minister’ who was part of the new cabinet that took over the lead under Prime Minister, Theresa May, following the ‘fast exit to avoid Brexit’ by David Cameron (the PM who implemented the referendum). Following a few months David Davis was called in to the Brexit Committee to provide the impact of Brexit, he claimed there were too many documents to bring in and would need large crates. And at another meeting he had to admit that there was no work or research done at all on Brexit only a few meetings.
Obviously there were some issues with the then acting Prime Minister Theresa May that she had to be legally elected unanimously to actively lead Britain out of the EU following the advisory vote to leave. There were not enough votes for a clear majority for her party, The Conservatives, and she decided to align with the DUP Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, a part of the U.K. they were paid a large sum of money to create a coalition parliament. But there’s a catch with the Brexit and Ireland, The Republic of Ireland (not DUP) there is an active, important factor to take in which is the Good Friday Agreement because the Republic of Ireland is part of the EU. Free movement will be an issue, people voted to put blocks to that so the freedom the Irish now enjoy, will be back to square one again.
There is a major issue of Leadership of the U.K. and as such everything is uncertain and another election may be on the horizon. Right now everyone is divided and still not fully and accurately informed.